(Bob Hagin believes that the new Porsche 911 Turbo is totally
impractical. Son Matt agrees, but says its fun quotient is very high.)

BOB - This Porsche 911 Turbo is probably the most impractical car
we've ever evaluated. It costs as much as a pretty good house is some
areas of the country and it will only carry two people. It's said to be
good for around 190 mph and the only place that a person can go that
fast is in the desert areas of Nevada. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 in
a bit over five seconds and when it's passing traffic on the highway, it
can accelerate from 50 to 75 in five seconds and does it in fifth gear.
But the most amazing thing about it is that it's as smooth as silk in
town and isn't at all fussy on the street.

MATT - The car has lots of other attributes, too, and if status is
important, there are few new cars in the world that draw as much
attention as this Porsche. The rear-mounted engine is a mechanical work
of art. It displaces only 3.6-liters, but it puts out 415 horses at 6000
revs and the torque figure is 413 pound-feet. And the torque curve is so
flat that it pulls very hard even at low engine speeds. It's a flat-six
"boxer" engine with a turbocharger feeding into each bank of cylinders.
It uses dual overhead cams with four valves per cylinder and unlike most
rear-mounted Porsche engines in the past, it's watercooled. The valve
train is interesting in that it can advance and retard the camshafts
themselves as the engine load increases or decreases. The lift of the
valves is varied by using a dual valve-lifter system for low and high
speed performance, along with "trimming" the engine so that it puts out
the lowest possible pollution. Amazingly, it's designated as a low
emissions engine by our Environmental Protection Agency. Another
surprise is that its fuel mileage is better than many of the sport/
utility vehicles that we've tested this year. If there's a down side to
this, it's that the engine requires 97-octane fuel.

BOB - I've studied diagrams of that valve system, Matt, and I still
can't figure out how it works. The transmission in the car we evaluated
is a six-speed stick-shift although there's an five-speed automatic
available, too. The ZF automatic uses the Tiptronic system so it can be
"rowed" up and down through the gears almost like a stick. In that case,
the driver can simply point, accelerate and steer, but I'm pretty sure
that die-hard enthusiasts will go for the six-speed. The Turbo uses
all-wheel drive, which is also a pretty slick system. In most cases, the
car puts most of its power to the rear wheels with a small amount going
forward through a viscous clutch mounted on the front of the
transmission. As the car accelerates hard and picks up speed, more and
more power goes to the front wheels, as much as 40-percent when full
power is applied and the tires need maximum adhesion. There's a traction
control system built in, but adventuresome drivers can shut it off if
they feel the need to do some hang-the-tail-out highballing.

MATT - With all the technical wizardry in the Porsche 911 Turbo, its
easy to ignore all the creature-comforts that are built into it. The
driver and passenger seats are as form-fitting as a pair of high-class
leather gloves and all the controls have been place by engineers who no
doubt spent their formative years in the competition department of
Porsche. The tires are huge, being 18-inchers with 295/30ZRs in front
and 225/40ZRs in back. The rear spoiler on the engine cover lifts a bit
at 75 mph to give the car more downforce, a factor that becomes
important when road speeds get up around three miles per minute.

BOB - I was at a track session when the original 911 was first
brought over to the U.S. in '63 and the profile of this new car shows
its lineage to the original version.

MATT - High quality things don't change much over the years, Dad.
They just get better.